Home Staging Pennsylvania- Hart & Associates Servicing the Main Line, Philadelphia, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties.

Are you looking for money saving design ideas to use in your decorating or home staging projects? If so, check out my latest tips for easy, budget friendly ways you can give your home a new look this year.

DECORATING SENSE FOR A NEW DECADE: 

10 TRENDS & MONEY-SAVING DESIGN TIPS TO GET THE DESIGNER LOOK FOR LESS

  

CHARLOTTE, NC (January 2010)- Staying up on trends can be expensive, but with some affordable finds and budget décor tips you can get the latest looks for your home for less.  Expert home stager and designer Kate Hartgives us her top ten trends for 2010 - and tips to affordably update your home for a whole new decade.  

  "Many of the trends in 2010 reflect the mood of today's consumers," says Hart.  "Homeowners are looking to brighten their space and their mind set, stretch their decorating dollars and make the most of the home they have." 

Here's what Kate highlights as trends and tips to take us through the new year in style:

•1.       REFURBISHED FURNISHINGS - Reclaim and restore what is old and make new again.  Tip:  Reduce, reuse and recycle are décor terms today so reupholster that  old chair, add a MirrorMate® frame to your bare mirror instead of replacing it and repaint a flea market-find dresser as opposed to buying new. 

•2.       CALMING, UPLIFTING COLORS - Create a cheery retreat with cool colors & lighter wood tones. Tip:  Use turquoise, the Pantone color of 2010, as a bold accent when paired with neutrals like black and white or use it with gray or mint green for a more subtle effect.  Replace or refinish dark woods with lighter shades of honey or a driftwood-inspired finish for a brighter, more up-to-date look.

•3.       MIRRORS & METALS - Brighten, lighten and add pop to a room with the shimmer and shine of mirrors and metals .  Tip:  Group three or more Pizzazz MirrorSquares (less than $20 each!) in Charlotte Silver Leaf behind a couch or along a wall, add a mirrored chest to a room or silver candlesticks to a mantle.  Shiny silver, brushed nickel, antique or oil-rubbed bronze remain popular metal finishes. 

•4.       MULTI-PURPOSE SPACES -Turn unused spaces into something new and useful.  Tip:  The space at the top of the stairs, the living room you never sit in, or guest room used twice a year, can do double duty as a home office, den or playroom by adding an armoire-style desk, pull out sofa bed or toy storage. 

•5.       BOLD, GRAPHIC PATTERNS - Replace timid designs with large scale patterns in one or two colors.  Tip: To perk up your living room consider recovering a chair in a new, fun print or simply add some toss  pillows to a neutral sofa in exotic patterns like bamboo or natural motifs such as asters or birds.

•6.       MIX & MATCH PIECES - Mix it up by breaking up matching sets of furniture, adding in new and unexpected pieces.  Tip:   Instead of buying a new dining room set, add new chairs to the table you already have or consider hosting a furniture swap with your friends to exchange unwanted piece.  You'll get a whole new look -for free!

•7.       NATURAL ELEMENTS -Bring the outside in and "green" your home with eco-friendly materials like bamboo and cork. Tip:  A sisal or jute area rug is an affordable way to embrace this look without adding new flooring to your room.  Add some recycled glass candle sticks or organic cotton pillows to complete the space.

•8.       LESS SHABBY, MORE CHIC - Forget the flowers and ruffles, things are looking more tailored in 2010. Tip:  Think fitted bed skirts, drapes that don't drag and throws that are neatly placed- not draped.

•9.       HOTEL DÉCOR - Bring the look and feel of the hotel home to enjoy during "staycations" and all year long.  Tip:  The bathroom and bedroom are the perfect place to start, adding furnishings with clean lines, plush white towels and a spa-like color palate. 

•10.   DIY DECORATING - Tackle those do-it-yourself projects and save money in the process. Tip:  Pick up the paint brush to refresh your wall color, break out the sewing machine to de-puddle those droopy drapes and resist the urge to spurge on new items like a mirror for your powder room.  Reframe the one you have instead with a MirrorMateframe in eco-friendly Pacifica Silver Sheen or Acadia Dove White.

"Trend number 10 is the most inspiring of all because by doing-it-yourself, almost all of these trends and tips can be achieved with little to no expense," concludes Hart.  "So many of today's trends allow you to use what you (or your friends) have, simply re-arranging or adding to it with affordable accents."

About Kate Hart

Kate Hart is a pioneer in the home staging field, having helped hundreds of families and realtors prepare homes for sale through her Philadelphia-area company, Hart & Associates Staging & Design.  Her design work and expert advice has been featured in numerous books, magazines and broadcast outlets ranging from Fine Living and CNN to Everyday with Rachael Ray and HGTV.com.  Hart was recently recognized by the Real Estate Staging Association as "Staging Professional of the Year," the industry's most prestigious award.  Kate serves as national spokesperson for the MirrorMate brand and is known for her on-trend, budget-friendly design advice.  For more on Kate Hart visit www.hartstaging.com.

Every now and then I have a staging challenge that I just cannot figure out. Most homes are easy to plan- first I determine the best purpose for the space, next I come up with the design scheme and then I sort out what furniture and accessories work best for the image we are trying to convey. Sometimes however I come upon a space that puzzles me. If I cannot figure it out, how can the buyer?

Such was the case with one of my most recent staging projects in Chester County Pennsylvania:

• First there was an entry hall that had been added between the home and the garage. It was both the front and the back entrance to the home so it was the first thing buyers noticed when they came in. It had a tile floor and brick walls making it instantly feel cold.

• Next was the living room. It was open on one side to the entrance hall, the other side to the kitchen and the other side to the sun room. The fourth wall had the fireplace and built-in bookcases. Upon first glance the only obvious place to put the sofa was on the wall near the entry hall but this would make the seating area absurdly far from the fireplace.

• The kitchen was lovely but since it was open to the dining area buyers needed to see how this space would work for them.

• Finally there was the sun room. It was a gorgeous bright space overlooking lovely farmland. It had been added onto the house and it was the largest room in the home. By calling it a "sun room" buyers instantly felt like they could not enjoy it all the time and were relegated to the smaller living room or the basement.

My solution was to give more definition to the spaces in this open floor plan:

• The foyer became a mudroom and a command center for busy families.

• The living room featured a gathering place adjacent to the gourmet kitchen and  a separate home office niche.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The kitchen and dining room were made into one cohesive space by using the same color palate as the adjoining spaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The sunroom was transformed into a spacious family room that was an extension of the other living areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since this home was bright and sunny I felt the typical staging neutrals (beige, brown and grey) just would not do. My vision was to infuse the home with color so that the buyer would remember how cheerful this space felt. The result? A charming and whimsical country retreat!

If you love to decorate your home for the holidays but are stressed about overspending on expensive items, consider my money saving design tips from my recent appearance on NBC 10's Cheap Chica's Guide. These elegant ideas are fun, simple and some even cost less than $5.00!

Below is a guest blog I wrote for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors news website PAR Just Listed. If you are selling your home this holiday season, follow my advice to make sure your home is the star of the show- not your seasonal decor.

Showcase your home during the holidays

Monday, December 7, 2009 By Kate Hart

You don't have to act like the Grinch to make sure your home is show ready during the holiday season. Instead, follow these simple suggestions to showcase your home's selling features and celebrate at the same time:

Let your home be the star of the show, not your lawn ornaments.
It may be fun to pull a Clark Griswold and cover your entire roof with brightly colored Christmas lights and the front yard with giant blow up sculptures but remember that curb appeal is important and buyers will make their initial decision on whether or not to buy your home based on their first impression.  Instead, opt for simple and classic greenery and white lights. A wreath on the front door, small evergreens in urns and some garland along the fence post will keep your home festive but not overwhelm buyers.

When it comes to holiday décor, less is more.
You want buyers to appreciate the space your home offers, not your nutcracker collection that requires shoving the sofa up against the wall.  Pick one key area per room to decorate and create a focal point that will capture the buyer's eye.  In the living room add some garland to the fireplace and some seasonal colored candles. In the dining room, add a festive centerpiece and keep the sideboard streamlined. Set up your tree or menorah in the family room but forgo the additional items you normally display.  

Once the guests leave, so do the decorations.
As soon as the holidays are over, get your home back to its show ready state as soon as possible. Resist the temptation to let the stacks of gifts linger in the living room and the tree stay up past the New Year. Buyers have time off from work during the holidays and if they're shopping for a home they'll make it a priority to get out there and look- hopefully at yours!

Still not convinced that you need to stage your home to prepare it for sale? Think staging only works for model homes? Take a look at our most recent staging in Malvern Pennsylvania. Located in picturesque Chester County, this gorgeous home had great selling features but needed to be fine tuned to show families how they could live there. The results? Stunning!

I just got off the phone with an ecstatic Realtor- her most recent property was listed on Sunday, got an offer on Monday, accepted the offer on Tuesday and got a back up offer Tuesday evening. The reason she is so thrilled is not only because this home sold so quickly but because the last home we staged for her also sold in less than a week!

This Realtor understands that in today's market staging a home is essential to getting a faster sale. She also knows that home staging does not have to be expensive. Often times all a client needs is a home staging consultation or a plan of how to best present their home for sale. Once I meet with a client to advise them on how to prepare their home for sale,  they can then complete their home staging home work- this can mean rearranging the furniture, decluttering, cleaning or adding items to accent the home. Once their staging work is complete the home can be listed and shown.

Below are our recent statistics for homes we have recently staged in the Main Line and Philadelphia region. If you are considering listing your home this Fall, I recommend that you begin to prepare your home for sale now so that it is ready to show. Visit our website www.hartstaging.com or contact us for our $tage and $ave plans for every home seller's budget.

Ardmore, Montgomery County PA: Home on the market 2 months, after staging consultation sells to second buyer to tour the property.

Ardmore, Montgomery County PA: Home listed on Sunday, sold the next day to first showing.

Ardmore, Montgomery County PA: Home sells after 3 days on the market.

"House was listed on Monday and sold on Thursday (Friday with counter offer agreed to). Also had another offer on Saturday and all thru the process lots of comments about "beautiful house  - very well presented"!.Thanks much for all your help"

Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County PA: Home on the market for 6 months. After consult and recommendation to remove wall paper sells to second buyer to see the home.

Devon, Chester County PA: Home sells after 1 week on the market with multiple offers!

Devon, Chester County PA: Home sells in less than 2 weeks on the market.

Haverford, Montgomery County PA: Home sells in less than 2 weeks on the market.

Havertown, Delaware County PA: Home sells in less than 2 weeks on the market.

Merion Station, Montgomery County PA: Home sells to first buyer to look at property (home seller spent 9 months getting home ready to sell and it was worth it!)

Narberth, Montgomery County PA: Home sells in less than 2 weeks on the market.

"The house is under contract, we signed on Monday night and the inspections were Thursday. I will let you know once the deal is completely done. I think your staging had a huge impact on the speed of the whole process,  and the final price. We cannot thank you enough, you are amazing, and I have learned so much about living in a tidier fashion which I really like."

Newtown Square, Delaware County PA:  3.6 million dollar home gets offer after 40 days on market and 10 showings!

Newtown Square, Delaware County PA: Home sells in less than one month with 3 other homes in the same development on the market!

Radnor, Delaware County PA: Contemporary home in traditional neighborhood sells in less than three weeks on market!

"We got an offer, with the buyers' first visit occurring about 2-2 1/2 weeks into the project. We've accepted, and closing will be around the 30th. Thanks so much for your guidance; I know it made a difference."

Wynnewood, Montgomery County PA: Home sells in one week after home staging consultation.

 

 

Kate Hart is an award winning home stager servicing clients in the Main Line and Philadelphia regions of Pennsylvania. Visit www.hartstaging.com to learn more about our services and our new Virtual Real Estate Staging Services^tm for every home seller's budget. For all other locations contact us at www.selecthomestagers.com to find an associate in your local area.

 

If you stay on top of the trends in the real estate and home staging industries you have probably heard of virtual staging. This is where stagers that are savvy with graphic design manipulate photos of vacant properties to make them look like model homes. This helps to show the proper scale, function and layout for each space.

While this concept is brilliant for vacant home sellers that do not want to hire a home stager to physically stage their home, it leaves me wondering:

1. What happens when a buyer goes to see the home in person and there is nothing there? and

2. What about resale home sellers? They typically do not have a vacant home to sell!

As a home staging professional in one of the most challenging real estate markets ever I know that families are struggling to find ways to sell their homes in a down market, get out of debt and move on to the next phase of their lives. Even though home sellers understand that staging is something they must do to make their homes more marketable, finding the dollars to hire a professional seems out of the question when they are faced with short sale, foreclosure, credit card debt or loss of job. Some home sellers make do with purchasing a staging-how-to-book or downloading a checklist off the Internet but we all know that the best book and the most comprehensive list will not give sellers the same advice as a professionally trained real estate stager.

I started to think about how I could help home sellers on a budget without compromising the quality of the services that I offer. I began going online to look at photographs of their homes on the MLS and sending them advice via email. Weeks later I would get follow up emails telling me their homes sold and my advice had helped. Soon I realized that I could help clients virtually and save them money at the same time! Money they need to pay their mortgage, or use to make updates needed to sell their homes.

This new take on virtual home staging is not an entirely novel concept for me- I have offered this service since 2005 when happy home sellers would call and ask me to travel to their new home to help them get set up with the same look and feel as their staged home. With two small children at home I could not easily take off for Florida (although I did this once for Miss America!) or Cincinnati on a whim but I could look at floor plans and photos and get them off to a great start. If I needed someone to look at the home in person I knew I could always refer a local home staging professional.

I am excited to announce the launch our new Virtual Real Estate Staging Services^tm. Aimed to help resale home sellers, it is an interactive website portal where clients from any town, any place can upload pictures of their home and get expert one-on-one home staging advice. If needed we can match home sellers with local home staging professionals in their home town through Select Home Stagers^tmour network of home staging professionals. I think this is a win for home sellers- expert advice, on their time and online. I invite you to visit our website today and learn more about this exciting staging service.

 

Kate Hart is an award winning home stager servicing clients in the Main Line and Philadelphia regions of Pennsylvania. Visit www.hartstaging.com to learn more about our services and our new Virtual Real Estate Staging Services^tm for every home seller's budget. For all other locations contact us at www.selecthomestagers.com to find an associate in your local area.

We recently had the pleasure of helping Sposato Builders with one of their most recent Main Line home renovations. This was an especially rewarding experience because the client chose not only to stage a few key rooms but also to finish the lower level of this home per our recommendation.

As a home staging professional it is our duty to make sure that we are giving our client all the right information about what they need to do to best market and present their property for sale. In this case, completing the basement meant staging less areas in the home, however this compromise meant the home was more competitive with other homes on the market.

Here are some photos of this recent project. As you can see adding some key pieces of furniture and accessories not only added warmth to this space but also enhanced the selling features of this home. Once the lower level is complete the play room items will move out of the third floor and into the lower level. With 4 fully renovated stories and a professionally landscaped yard this home will not last long!

 

 

If you are looking to sell your home take a look at how home staging transformed this property. Hart Staging personally services the Main Line, Philadelphia, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery area of Pennsylvania. Visit our site at www.hartstaging.com to learn more about our services. For all other locations contact us at www.selecthomestagers.com to find an associate in your local area.

Kate Hart is an award winning home staging expert servicing clients in the Main Line and Philadelphia regions. Make sure to subscribe to her blog for money saving staging and home design ideas.

As a home staging expert on the Main Line, I understand that buyers are critical in today's market- updated kitchens and bathrooms are at the top of their must have list. One way that home sellers can update their bathrooms on a budget is to consider enhancing what they already have instead of a full bathroom makeover.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of using MirrorMate Frames to transform some home owners' bathrooms in Downingtown, Chester County Pennsylvania. Instead of removing their existing plate glass mirrors, we added a MirrorMate Frame to give their bathrooms an instant update. Take a look at the results below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would also like to thank these home owners for allowing us to use their home for a news story we shot with Nydia Han of 6 ABC Action News Philadelphia. You can view the story here and learn about some quick and easy things you can do to update your bathroom on a budget.

 

 

Last week Hart & Associates Staging had the pleasure of helping a Main Line home seller to prepare their home at Brick House Farm Lane in Newtown Square Pennsylvania for sale. Located in picturesque Delaware county, this stately new construction home offers luxuries such as hardwood floors, a floor to ceiling stone fireplace, gourmet appliances, a coffered ceiling in the kitchen and custom lighting and mill work throughout. View our real estate show to see how our home staging team transformed this luxurious Main Line property.